Kolkata, July 15 (IANS) After the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday clarified that it had not issued any direction of warning labels on food products like "samosas" and "jalebis", West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Trinamool Congress-led state government will not follow the Centre's orders on the matter.
She also added that any government-imposed restriction in the matter would mean interfering in the individual food habits of the people.
"Some media outlets have reported that apparently samosas/jalebis cannot be consumed from now on, based on instructions from the Health Ministry. This is not a notification from the government of West Bengal. We are not interfering in every matter. We shall not implement this. I think samosas and jalebis are popular in other states also. People in those states also love these food items. Let us not interfere with people's food habits," the Chief Minister said in the statement, which she shared on her official X account.
Her statement comes amid the clarification from the Union Home Ministry that there was no instruction for warning labels on food products like "samosas" and "jalebis" and there was only an advisory for display of board at various workplaces to raise awareness on ill-effects of consumption of hidden fats and excess of sugar in various food items.
BJP's IT Cell Chief and the party's central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, immediately refuted the claims of the Chief Minister and said the administrative activities of Mamata Banerjee had been reduced to highlighting fake issues.
"Sitting in the Chief Minister's chair with no real governance to offer, Mamata Banerjee has now taken to tweeting about fake issues. The Union Health Ministry has issued no advisory banning the consumption of samosas or jalebis. This is pure fiction -- peddled by the Chief Minister for cheap publicity," said Malviya in a statement posted on his official X account.
According to the BJP leader, "with fading credibility when her authority had been challenged by her nephew, Mamata Banerjee had now started spreading falsehoods over imaginary controversies."
"For someone holding the office of Chief Minister, this is not just embarrassing -- it's a disgrace to the dignity of the post. West Bengal deserves better," Malviya claimed.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Chief Minister accused Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) of creating flood-like situation in certain pockets of West Bengal by releasing water from their dams without giving prior intimation to the state government.
She claimed that DVC had continued with this practice despite her repeated appeals to different Central authorities, including the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
--IANS
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